95 Pounds of Hope

Image credit: fantasticfiction.co.uk

The main character in this children’s book is Gregory Dubosc, a 13-year-old French boy. Gregory is no match for the standard school system. He has been held back twice, expelled, and labeled ADD. No schools in Gregory’s town will accept him.

The standard school system does not give Gregory much hope for his future. He has no outlet for his passion – inventing and building things. Gregory’s hope is slowly restored as his grandfather cultivates Gregory’s passion to create. His happiest moments are when he is with Grandpa Leon in his workshop.

Gregory’s dream of using his hands is finally realized when he is accepted into a prestigious vocational school outside his town.

Lessons from this story:

• Children need mentors in their lives to encourage them towards their dreams.
• All students differ. There is no cookie cutter way to do school.

What are you wondering now?

My Personal Statement

Image credit: idfpr.com

By Wayne Russell
11/30/2011

Hope is weaved throughout my story. I trace the beginning of my ethos of hope to an overseas trip my parents sacrificially saved for. When I was eleven years old I left the Southern Hemisphere for a six-week ‘field trip’ through Europe, the United States and Canada. It was a trip of a lifetime for a small town boy from Africa. The world was officially opened for exploration. If my parents did not show me a world beyond my own, I would have never known that there was more to hope for. My life experiences have made me passionate about giving students experiences beyond their world to convince them that possibilities are endless.

As a child my parents always encouraged me to dream big and to look beyond my current situation. This was powerfully modeled by my parents a few years after taking our six-week ‘field trip’: My father faced unemployment for two and a half years. Throughout this difficult period my parents remained positive and kept looking upward and onwards. Hope for a better future was our daily medicine.

As I approached my high school graduation my parents encouraged me to aim high. My dream was to travel overseas to attend college. I knew this would be no easy feat and would require determination and grit. My parents were unable to financially support an international college education, but they fully supported my big thinking. We planned numerous fundraising activities before my departure. These included garage sales, in which we received the full support of our community with families contributing all their unwanted goods; late-night vanilla fudge-making for friends; and my favorite, an all-out country and western dance and dinner in which ticket sales went towards my overseas college education.

Once I arrived in the U.S. for college I immediately began working and continued working through all my undergraduate and graduate studies. I took full advantage of summer, fall, winter, and spring breaks to work extra hours. I continued to apply what I learned throughout my childhood: hard work and determination. I was the first in my family to graduate from college. Hope mixed with hard work and determination is a recipe for making the impossible possible.

Hope and Education

Image credit: interactioninstitute.org

By Wayne Russell
6/3/2012

My philosophy that hope and education are weaved together began during my graduate studies.  My thesis project was about how children need a sense of hope in order for great learning to take place.  If children do not have a healthy level of hope that their future will be good, the level of energy they place in their education will be affected.  Whereas children with a healthy amount of hope will work hard towards realizing their dreams.

One of my favorite authors on education, Dr. Ruby Payne, pointed me to a great study on hope and poverty.  The study found that "an absence of hope" had helped keep people in poverty.

The study in essence monitored the effects of a program that assisted people in West Bengal with a basic need.  The people in West Bengal needed a way to pull in greater financial resources.  By helping meet this need, the people began "eating 15% more, earning 20% more each month and skipping fewer meals than people in a comparison group." The program began giving people hope that their present lives could be different.

Education is a basic need. Yes, we need water, food, and shelter, but we also need a good education.  Water, food and shelter minus a good education will keep a person alive, but will do little to erase the root cause of no water, no food, no shelter: Lack of good educational opportunities.

We need people to go into countries with poor educational options, to give children an education that will brighten their opportunities, and to ultimately give them hope.

What will you do to help?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To learn more about the West Bengal study, visit... http://www.freakonomics.com/2012/05/23/hope-and-poverty/